In today’s post, we shall look at the ‘Container’ type of clue. In this type, the setter will give us the meaning, as always, and will also give us a word-play for us to solve by nesting one word inside another. The indicators for this type of clue are words like ‘containing’, ‘holding’, ‘within’, ‘enveloping’, ‘outside’, ‘in’, ‘carrying’, ‘taking in’, ‘welcoming’ and so on.

To make it more challenging, setters may also combine containers with other clue devices such as reversals (LAVENDER is VEND in REAL reversed –LA(VEND)ER), and anagrams (SCALLION is an anagram of LILAC put inside SON – S(CALLI)ON), and so on.

Note that this clue device is quite different from the “embedded” clue, where the answer is hiding in the clue itself, in plain sight.

Let us understand the Container clue device with the help of a few examples:

Common foil containing aluminium (9)
The answer means ‘common’ as in ‘found everywhere’, is 9 letters long and can also come from taking AL for Aluminium and nesting it within a word that means ‘foil’. And so we get PREV-AL-ENT.
Alternative procedure with oxygen in container (6)
The answer is the synonym of alternative and is 6 letters long. We can see that there is a charade here with the container type thrown in. Please note that crossword setters frequently clue ‘OP’ with words like work or procedure or surgery (operation). And so we get OP + TI(O)N.
Quickly leave low flower container outside (7)
This is a tough one. The answer means ‘quickly leave’ and is 7 letters long. We can solve this by having a flower container envelop a word that means ‘low’. In this clue, the clue-type indicator is ‘outside’. And so we get MOO inside a VASE = VA(MOO)SE.
(Yes, one of the meanings of ‘low’ is the noise made by a cow. From my school days, I remember these lines from the lovely poem, ‘Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard’, by Thomas Gray:
The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd wind slowly o’er the lea,
The ploughman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me.)

Here are a few clues for you to try on your own:
1) Signal containing large hint (4)
2) Monk holding head of laden transport animal (5)
3) Scrap of cloth consumed by Don’s mythical beast (6)
4) Tour de France activity? Hold on tightly, welcoming an unknown Charlie (7)
Note that unknown is usually an ‘x’ or ‘y’ and that Charlie stands for ‘C’ in the NATO Phonetic alphabet
5) Contented and very quiet, cutting hay (5)
Note that ‘very quiet’ is a common cluing for ‘pp’ which is a musical abbreviation for pianissimo (which means very soft or very quiet)
6) Quick! Sieve, including tungsten! (5)
Your knowledge of the symbol for Tungsten will come in handy now 🙂